Alternator: Autozone Duralast

[jnicholson30]

Picking up on this thread from a while back now, curious to see if anyone out there actually has pulled the trigger on the Duralast Alternator route.

Like nearly everything out there these days, it is a remanufactured unit (i.e. the OEM Bosch redone) but this one comes with a lifetime warranty. With repair bills adding up, the Duralast is at the moment $120 after the core charge and a 20% online discount vs. the $470 + shipping at Pelican and the like. eBay just seems to have more remanufactured units but still for much more than the Duralast.

I've attached some pictures of the unit below (ordered one last year before realizing I had in reality a different issue altogether and returned it... now I have the pictures at least). Curious to see if anyone has gone the Autozone Duralast route and any observations. Thanks.

J

-2000 Boxster S

[rdass623]

generally, I have found the remanufactured parts from your local retailers work just fine. typically they come with a lifetime warranty, so for the diy'er it is a good deal. yes there are quite a few people who will say go to the dealership and purchase the Porsche part which will run about 4 times more, but I feel you will get more enjoyment from the fact you can still afford to fill the tank and drive your boxy after the repair as an added bonus. $300 savings = 5 tanks of gas..... sounds like a no brainer to me.

[Jamesp]

I've not bought a Duralast alternator for the box, but I have used them on other vehicles, and have never replaced them, either sold the vehicle or continued to drive them. I've about 150k miles on one in my 97 Explorer. The parts all used to be "lifetime" now I'm seeing "3 year". Bought the Exploder alternator as "lifetime", it will be interesting to see what happens if it fails. If I need one for the Box, it will definitely be from Autozone.

[CoBeerToad]

Bought mine from Autozone. Looked like a perfect match to me. Fit right in. I don't know how many miles I have on it as the car has been on blocks for a couple months fixing everything else. Somewhere in the 2k-4k range and no issues.

I'm not super concerned with a cheap alternator. If it goes bad, it won't kill anything else. And usually, I'll have a warning or two before it goes completely. I was scared to get the Autozone water pump though.

ETA: 1997 986

[patssle]

What about a third option....get your current alternator rebuilt by a local alternator shop. I did that for my 914 starter and 911sc alternator.